


A Means to an End

by Evil_Little_Dog



Series: Little Things [169]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, Introspection, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-03-13 21:03:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3396233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Little_Dog/pseuds/Evil_Little_Dog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: Ed’s alchemy is important. <br/>Disclaimer: Arakawa is creator and in dominion of all. Not me.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Means to an End

Alchemy. It was a rule of his life, for so many years. Edward had first learned it because of his curiosity over his old man’s books. He’d taught himself to read, and he’d taught himself alchemy from those books. It started out as a way to please his mother. And, if truth be told, show he was better at something than his brother. After their mother died, it became a means to an end – to bring Trisha Elric back from the dead. 

That failed spectacularly. Look at what happened with Alphonse’s body, his arm and leg. Farther on, look at what happened with Nina. With the chimerǣ. With Kimblee. His own teacher had her insides destroyed with trying to bring her own child back from the dead. 

Comprehension, destruction, reconstruction – those were the basic tenets of alchemy. There were other rules, always, but Edward rarely paid any attention to those. Equivalent exchange ruled his life, and that was all. 

But after coming to the realization of the pain of alchemy – the way it hurt people. Edward saw what Kimblee could do. He’d been shocked at the depth of horror Mustang inflicted on the Ishvalans. Scar’s alchemy had hurt Winry, though she’d managed to hide the depth of that ache for so many years, Edward hadn’t realized how much damage the death of her parents had caused her. 

“You’re staring.” 

Edward glanced at Winry, at the way she held their baby cradled against her chest. Their son rooted at her breast, finding her nipple and latching on. She winced, but her expression smoothed out into one of adoration as Simon nursed. Her fingers moved over his skull, through the extra-fine hair, a pale gold covering his head. “You’re beautiful,” he said, and Winry laughed faintly, shaking her head. Edward could see her blush. 

Giving up his alchemy had never been something he’d considered back when he was younger, but he’d seen enough to realize, maybe there was more to life than just being an alchemist. He could be something else. Someone else. A student, a teacher maybe. A researcher. The brother to the best scholar in Xing. And finally, possibly the most important thing, the father to Winry Rockbell’s and his child.


End file.
